Horse hoofs are sometimes injured for various reasons, and it is often painful for the horse to walk and to have horse shoe nails removed from and attached to the injured hoof. There is also a risk of infection of the injured hoof, particularly if the injury of the hoof is exposed. Another problem is that the horse hoof may be too dry and that, in turn, can cause harm to the hoof.
There is a need for a horse shoe cassette system that would enable the horse to be outside walking, and even trotting, despite an injury to one or many of its hoofs. There is also a need for a fastening mechanism of a horse shoe to the horse hoof without having to rely on horse shoe nails.
Various devices have heretofore been provided to be worn by hoofed animals such as horses, cows, mules, or the like. The prior art devices are attached to the hoofs by means of straps provided with hook or loop fasteners. Such devices have suffered from lack of sufficient protection to prevent water, manure, and other debris from contacting an injured hoof. Other bandages have suffered from lack of sufficient fixation means to hold the same in place when worn by an active animal. Also, the prior art devices are cumbersome to use.
The present invention is a horse shoe cassette system that provides effective protection of an injured hoof while permitting convenient removal and attachment of a horse shoe to the hoof. The cassette system comprises a plurality of hollow holders that are screwed into the hoof. Each holder has a threaded outside surface and a threaded inside opening defined therein. A flexible covering, of a general hollow ungulate shape to fit an ungulate's hoof, has a bottom plate that includes a first opening. A horse shoe may be attached to the bottom plate of the flexible covering, and the horse shoe may have second opening defined therein. A threaded screw member extends through the first and second openings and may be screwed into the threaded inside opening of the holder disposed in the hoof to tightly hold the horse shoe to the flexible covering and the bottom of the hoof.